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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · spell · mark · arm · file · land · content · mouse

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. content — happy
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. file — a document
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spell — letters
  10. land — to come down
  11. file — a tool
  12. mark — a grade
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. cold — not warm
  16. file — a line of people
  17. spell — a short time
  18. content — the amount
  19. land — ground
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com